Ancient Laboratory

Moray agricultural siteImage: happinessplunge.com

I’m adding this destination to the places I’d like to visit around the world: The Incan ruins of what are considered to be an experimental laboratory for agriculture at the Moray site in the Cusco region of Peru. The terraced depressions and complex irrigation systems are thought to have been used to simulate different environmental conditions on a variety of plants. One article I read on the site notes that the early Incans worked with a much wider variety of productive plants than are used in modern Peru, but I imagine this is more due to monoculture techniques and commercial considerations rather than a straightforward decline in available varieties.

The formations are approximately 150 m (490 ft.) at their deepest, the size of a 50-story building, and the temperature difference between the lowest and highest steps can be up to 15ºC (59ºF).

It’s been suggested that the site was used to simulate a range of environments across the ancient Incan empire.